Describes a survey that determined to what extent human performance technology (HPT) is being taught in 82 academic programs that traditionally emphasized training, including programs in instructional systems, training and development, human resource development, and adult learning. Results indicate that training continues to dominate, and future…

Discusses multicultural marketing and the use of new technologies by performance technologists to improve communication. Topics addressed include needs analysis, including cultural considerations; pilot testing; multilingual considerations; translation; the cost effectiveness of adequate planning; and centralized communication. (four references)…

During the last two decades, a shift has emerged in business and government sectors from a focus on training to a focus on performance improvement. This shift to Human Performance Technology (HPT), also called Human Performance Improvement (HPI) or performance technology, emerged in the educational technology literature in the late 1970s and early…

Over the past year the author has conducted user, task and context analyses as part of a larger project to develop a knowledge management (KM) system for the U.S. Navy. In this piece he shares that experience as well as point out a few of the challenges that he encountered. Ideally, this account will provide the opportunity for others to compare…

Performance support systems can play an important role in corporations by managing and allowing distribution of information more easily. These systems run the gamut from simple paper job aids to sophisticated computer- and web-based software applications that support the entire corporate supply chain. According to Gery (1991), a performance…

In May 1994, the first website for the School of Education at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB) was launched. At that time, the home page had two links: (1) The Instructional Systems Technology Department; and (2) The IUB home page. A decade later, the site now consists of more than 6,000 web pages, and has received more than 41.5 million page…

In the relatively new discipline of design education we have the opportunity to frame the way that design education is formulated. The relative lack of theorists in the field of design education studies leaves unquestioned the relevance of conventional practices of design education that are premised on only tangentially relevant Art, Science and…

Guest lectures are a valuable resource in higher education. However, shrinking budgets make it difficult to bring in experts from remote areas of the globe. Videoconferencing, Michael Luck and Gerard Laurence believe, may be a cost-effective way to bring experts to the classroom. Luck and Laurence describe their 2003 study that formally evaluated…

The evolution of a new technology passes through two distinct stages. In the first stage, the technology may be seen as a new way of doing an old thing. In the second stage, however, the new technology went beyond the mere replication of an earlier technology. In the field of learning, a very similar evolution is taking place. The introduction of…

This survey-based study addressed a perceived gap between training performance evaluation practice and decision-making criteria required in business. Training professionals and non-training managers in North Carolina were surveyed. The study found that the groups differ in the performance measures that motivate them to act on training issues.…

Competency is defined as a set of related knowledge, skills, and attitudes that enables an individual to effectively perform the activities of a given occupation or job function to the standards expected in employment. Competencies for professionals in the performance improvement field have received considerable attention in recent years. For…

Activity Theory has often been used in workplace settings to gain new theoretical understandings about work and the humans who engage in work, but rarely has there been sufficient detail in the literature to allow HPT practitioners to do their own activity analysis. The detail presented in this case is sufficient for HPT practitioners to begin to…

These five papers are from a symposium that was facilitated by Elwood F. Holton, III at the 1995 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development (HRD). "HRD Alignment: A Systemic Assessment of HRD in Organizations" (Richard J. Torraco) describes the HRD alignment model as a model for evaluation that offers a systemwide perspective on HRD…

This document contains four papers presented at a symposium on performance improvement moderated by Edward Schorer at the 1996 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD) "The Organizational Ecology of Ethical Problems: International Case Studies in the Light of HPT [Human Performance Technology]" (Peter J. Dean,…

Business process redesign (BPR) is a multifunctional, interdisciplinary, and strategic business improvement methodology designed to improve service, costs, and quality. This book provides a conceptual framework for institutions of higher education to shape such an improvement effort including examples of BPR activities and tools. Chapter 1…